January 2002

Answers

I'd like to acknowledge the last day of Onteora's winter break by re-
running a quote from CARE's recent newsletter, and another
perspective (forwarded by Jane Van de Bogart, thanks):

"Vacation is a time when parents realize that teachers are grossly
overpaid." -- CARE newsletter

----------------------------------------

Have you heard about the next planned Survivor show?

Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in an
elementary school classroom for 6 weeks. Each business person will be
provided with a copy of their school district's curriculum, and a
class of 28 students.
Each class will have five learning-disabled children, three with
A.D.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Three
will be labeled as severe behavior problems. Each business person
must complete lesson plans at least 3 days in advance with
annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organize, or create
materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students,
handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write
referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute
grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with
parents, and arrange parent conferences.
They must also supervise recess and monitor the hallways. In
addition, they will complete drills for fire, tornadoes, and shooting
attacks. They must attend workshops, (100 hours), faculty meetings,
union meetings, and curriculum development meetings. They must also
tutor those students who are behind and strive to get their 2 non-
English speaking children proficient enough to take the Terra Nova
and EPA tests.

If they are sick or having a bad day they must not let it show. Each
day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social
studies into the program. They must maintain discipline and provide
an educationally stimulating environment at all times.
The business people will only have access to the golf course on the
weekends, but on their new salary they will not be able to afford it
anyway. There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out
to lunch, and lunch will be limited to 30 minutes.
On days when they do not have recess duty, the business people will
be permitted to use the staff restroom as long as another survival
candidate is supervising their class. They will be provided with two
40-minute planning periods per week while their students are at
specials. If the copier is operable, they may make copies of
necessary materials at this time. The business people must
continually advance their education on their own time and pay for
this advanced training themselves. This can be accomplished by
moonlighting at a second job or marrying someone with money. The
winner will be allowed to return to his or her job.
Pass this to your friends who think teaching is easy and to the
ones that know it is hard. They will both benefit.

-- Anonymous, January 01, 2002

Happy New Year to all!

I can't stress enough the amount of wonderful, public support I have
been hearing regarding Meg, Tom and Marino's school board efforts as
well as our own during this holiday season. I feel we have many
positive things to look forward to in the upcoming months but, of
course, we must stay focused and address the important issues at hand.
It is very gratifying to hear from so many people whom I've never met
approaching me and wanting to get involved. It is so very encouraging.
Let's hope the New Year continues with this rising enthusiasm for a
postive change.

Melissa Reebock has suggested that Pam Free be granted permission to
the site. Any comments?? Otherwise, I will get her onboard the bbs in
a day or so.

Thanks to all for your continued support and encouragement.
Best wishes for the New Year!

-- Anonymous, January 01, 2002

I hope we can organize a meeting soon, where we can invite the public
to join us in what can be billed perhaps as a listening session, meant
to hear what people most want in the district...or some other way to
ask for public input and in the process gain support for our brand of
board politics...Perhaps at the olive town hall, as suggested by
Morty...The same place that CARE mees...he he...jim or another olive
resident needs to reserve this space I guess...and we can perhaps kick
in a few bucks to run an ad or simply do press releases. Dates
anyone??
Did I say happy New Year?
Tobe

Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 01, 2002

That always raises the interesting point when we decide to enlarge our
forces. Is it in our best interest to "go public"?

I can certainly see many reasona to not but to simply keep the group
within the confines of interested parties. I'm interested in hearing a
good reason to invite the public but I'd prefer to not be bogged down
with opposing points of view. The amount of time and energy we have,
as individuals, needs to be focused and well directed to achieve our
goals. At this point, our goals should be to harness our constituants,
refine our points of view, finalize candidates, and win an election.
But I'm not sure if inviting the public helps us or hurts us. I'm not
certain if many of us have the time, energy, patience or resources to
be "public".

-- Anonymous, January 02, 2002

Pam Free has got the info to join. We welcome her input and
suggestions. Hi Pam! Please feel free to listen and contribute when
you feel comfortable. Thanks for joining.

-- Anonymous, January 02, 2002

In case i missed any of you on my emailing...here's the latest:

Many have asked that I let them know if the nurse (Mary Patricia
Tiernan, RN) is scheduled to speak on sexually transmitted diseases to
the Board as requested by Mr. Doan. She is scheduled for this coming
Monday, January 7 at the Woodstock School at 7PM...she has not
confirmed
this, but is on the published agenda and expected to be there... We
urge all interested parents, students (anyone around from college??)
medical professionals, etc. to come and speak out on this important
topic.

The New Paltz Center is at http://www.NPPSC.org/staff.shtml...check
the
staff photo and see the program she is in charge of...Be aware that
this
work and affiliation with the New Paltz Center was NOT on the resume
Joe Doan gave to the Board on her behalf.
If you haven't done so, check out Care-Net, the organization with
which New Paltz, Saugerties Pregnacy Support Center is affiliated to
see what their agenda is...
web site online at http://www.care-net.org
Try going to the membership area and then to "become an affiliate" to
see what the New Paltz center and staff (and volunteers) have agreed
to...
Also, as a reminder, here is the Statement of Faith as gathered from
similarly Care-Net affiliated centers around the country...
CPR Statement of Faith

We believe the Bible to be the inspired, only infallible,
authoritative Word of God.

We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three
persons:

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin
birth,
in His sinless
life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through
His
shed blood, in
His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the
Father, and in His
personal return in power and glory.

We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful man,
regeneration
by the Holy
Spirit is absolutely essential, and that this salvation is received
through faith in
Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and not as a result of good works.

We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose
indwelling the
Christian is enabled to live a godly life and to perform good works.

We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they
that are saved
unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the
resurrection of
damnation.

We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our lord Jesus
Christ.

Adapted from the National Association of Evangelical's Statement of
Faith
(All volunteers, staff, and Board Members must sign a Statement of
Faith and be active
in their local church.)

Other items on the agenda placed there by Joe Doan include asking Shaw
and Perelson (lawyers) to be hired to "investigate" (at $150/hour)
the old business about Brian Lane, unencumbered fund balances, Erratt
lease renewal and payments, architects (Einhorn Yaffee and Prescott)
report and fees, and flyers (not) distributed before Bennett Bond
Vote...

Of course most if not all of these have already been discussed ad
nauseum and we know the answers, but Doan doesn't appear to like the
answers received, sooooo there goes more of your (our) money...

Whew...so much for making meetings shorter.
To get on Public be Heard call Wendy at 657-8851.

See you in Woodstock.

Tobe
PS Happy New Year!!!

-- Anonymous, January 03, 2002

New Paltz center URL is

http://www.NPPSC.org/staff.shtml

Sorry about that.
Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 03, 2002

Uh-oh, am I in trouble again? Does this (from the agenda for
next Monday's meeting) have anything to do with the letter I
wrote Laurie Cassel Dec. 21, and cc'ed Hal?

"Holiday Decorations in Onteora Schools – Trustee Doan"

I sent her a letter saying I felt really shut out of Bennett's
holiday celebrations, because I couldn't see a single mention anywhere
about the celebration of the winter solstice, a holiday celebrated by
pagan members of the community. She'd mentioned something in the
Bennett newsletter that seemed cryptically be saying something about
the decorations in each classroom, but it really wasn't very
straightforward what she was saying. The teacher's restroom door,
theoretically a neutral place, was loaded with motifs of winter
celebrations, including Kwanzaa and even as far ahead as Chinese New
Year. I'd have been happy with a single lousy yellow construction
paper sun and the word "solstice" there on a bathroom door, that's
all it would take. Throw us a crumb at least, just don't shut us out
entirely. I don't care if they need to save face and make it look
like some dreadful PC parent twisted their arms and made them do it,
just do it. You don't acknowledge some of the community's winter
religious holidays, and pointedly exclude others due to the bigotry
of some people in the community.

But I just snapped when I heard the umpteenth pious mention of
Kwanzaa celebration in a school full to the brim with blonde children
that can't possibly have anything even close to the district average
which is a whopping 3% black. Mine is definitely not the only pagan
family or individual in the Bennett community, but I may be the only
one in a position to speak out about it. I said I understood that
there were political sensitivities involved, and that there were
members of other religious traditions in the community that didn't
approve of our religious practices, but that we're pagan , we're
here, we're part of the school community, and they'll just have to
get used to it.

Meg, Tom -- do you know what sort of mischief Doan intends to do
here?

-- Anonymous, January 04, 2002

As far as we know, the issue has somehting to do with phoenicia
school...heard that principal wanted to be sure it was multi-cultural,
and not just Christian displays...the small menorah didn't cut it, and
somehow it was even removed from the wall...shades of M Millman's
issue again???
Haven't heard anything about Bennett, but Carol, you are a
trouble-maker.... :-)
Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 04, 2002

I must say that I think Joe Doan tipped his hat a bit when he made
reference to the American Legion Magazine (as the reference for why
condoms should be prohibited from the schools). I did some poking
around and what seemed to be a recurring theme at the American Legion
website was the same rhetoric that we have heard from Mr. Doan (and
Mr. Vanacore) for the past 2 years. One article, which I forgot to
bookmark, made reference to the conservative 50's and how much better
things were back then. Sound familiar??? I do remember that line of
reasoning not too long ago and it pops up in Skip Weidner's letters to
the editor all the time. We may have found the cave they hide out in....

-- Anonymous, January 04, 2002

Pictures of the Dump Doan signs would be great...can someone who knows
where they are contact Beth Blis 657-2714 and see if she can get a
snap or two for a Woodstock Times piece...he he he.
Monday at Woodstock School 7PM...Yahooooo!

-- Anonymous, January 05, 2002

Hi all: Happy New Year! I am also hearing a lot of folks speaking
out against Mr. Doan's practices and points of view. Teachers &
parents alike. It's interesting how people show their true selves
over "Xmas decorations in the lobby". I noticed there was only Xmas
depictions. I then was out with Jeff sick a couple days. Upon my
return I didn't notice the itsy bitsy manorah on far window yonder,
so, I asked Linda Sella "what's up"? She pointed it out...but
mentioned folks thought it was a religious symbol. Maybe it is maybe
it isn't. So it came down and replaced with dreidels. I get nutty
when Christians proclaim Santa is not religious, or trees etc.
(Carol, he's a pagen! so are the trees). Anyway, Linda really wanted
to do a winter scene on windows like snowflakes, snowmen, sleds etc.,
but our custodian (who does the decorating every year and has gotten
so much flack over the years for manorahs and dreidels) decorated the
lobby without talking to her first and was sensitive and fur up.
Linda had the board meeting coming up and wanted PC lobby. Can't
blame her for that. There have been letters in Phoenicia Times. My
neighbor in her letter proclaimed that the grinch hit Phoenicia
School. I'm so bored of this whole thing. If you try to level the
field on this issue extremists are so threatened. Hey, the NYC Jews
really might take over? By the way there was a holiday spirit in the
school. Less intence, but happening. Why can't that be OK?
Perplexing.
I'm hearing that SE Audit report is done. No staff has seen it yet
but have heard that she's suggesting BIG cuts in special ed. Meg,
have you read this report yet? I would like to know what she's
targeting. Bet Doan's read it. It is as I thought. His intention
with Shaw is to dismantle and ruin all the wonderful programs built
up over years. Special ed parents are paying close attention.
Hearings, courts, legal fees are going to boggle their brains!
I'm hesitant about making SOS public. It always comes down to a
solid core group...we have that. Getting information out and making
people think is more important than confusing our intentions with
added babble. Maybe a few meetings clarifying SOS focus could insure
the mission of the group...then go public? I'm uneasy.

-- Anonymous, January 05, 2002

Barbara Boyce just emailed me and suggested strongly I get copy of
audit report through FOIL. Jim, can you assist me in that? Thanks.
Also, another comment about going public. Staff and Onteora folks
may be hesitant to participate with bbs or SOS if public? It does
get tricky.

-- Anonymous, January 05, 2002

I want to remind newcomers (and those who haven't checked them out)
that we have some links to some of the information our school health
policies are based on in the December thread, that will be relevant
to the presentation at Monday's board meeting. Looks like we may
possibly have a snow day, though.

If we were to have some public informational meetings at somewhere
like the Olive Town Hall. that wouldn't necessarily compromise our
bulletin board or working meetings. We could have a speaker or two,
or perhaps even some panels discussing various topics. I happen to
like the panel format over individual speakers, as I find you get a
richer range of opinion and the give and take can reveal a lot.

-- Anonymous, January 05, 2002

I expect to be offline for maintenance the beginning of this week, so
won't be in the email/bb loop for a few days.
Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

Let's not into the public meeting discussion until we have a private
SOS meeting in order to prioritize our agenda. We need to focus
clearly on candidates and platform at this time.

Melissa-you need to call Wendy at the OCS district office to get a
FOIL request. Maybe it can be faxed. Fill it out and ithe report will
get to you, eventually. You need to be very specific about what it is
you are requesting. It does cost a copy fee per page (.25) which can
get very expensive if it is lengthy. Call me if you need more info and
I may even have a FOIL form around here somewhere if needed.

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

For a good laugh, check out the CARE website with the blue highlighted
text. The English language is slaughtered.

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

I've begun to agree with jim and melissa on having our internal house
in order. The time to have a public meeting is when (and if) we have
a program to offer that would raise our visibility and esteem in the
community. This does not have to be a meeting to seek "members"
we're not a "membership" group like CARE. Then, later when we
recommend our slate, people will find us believable and follow our
advise. How's about a date in two weeks...before jan ends...

Melissa, we have a copy of the SE report that we can let you have...I
believe Meg got two.
Tobe

If the board meeting is cancelled for tomorrow, it will be held NEXT
monday at 7 at the Woodstock school...
tobe

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

You a cyborg, Tobe? ;)

Of course, if the Bennett (and other school) parents knew some of the
the roots of the Kwanzaa that their children were so blithely
namedropping songs about in a nod to an acceptable sort of winter
concert multiculturalism as long as you don't think about it, they'd
have heart attacks. How about the seven principles being the ones
also symbolized by the 7-headed snake of the Symbionese Liberation
Army? Or Marxist Ron Karenga's cultural nationalism being thought by
some to be even more radical than the Black Panthers? Or these
thoughts, from the Kwanzaa Information Center "The Red, or the blood,
stands as the top of all things. We lost our land through blood; and
we cannot gain it except through blood. We must redeem our lives
through the blood. Without the shedding of blood there can be no
redemption of this race. However, the bloodshed and sorrow will not
last always..." and "WE PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE RED, BLACK, AND
GREEN, OUR FLAG, THE SYMBOL OF OUR ETERNAL STRUGGLE, AND TO THE LAND
WE MUST OBTAIN; ONE NATION OF BLACK PEOPLE, WITH ONE GOD OF US ALL,
TOTALLY UNITED IN THE STRUGGLE, FOR BLACK LOVE, BLACK FREEDOM, AND
BLACK SELF-DETERMINATION."

This would not play well in Shokan.

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

nO CYBORG THAT i KNOW OF :-)
simply that Wendy is calling board members to get agreement on next
meeting if (and when) they call off school tomorrow. so I had a few
hours advance notice!
T.

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

Love the kwanza story...Want to post it on over to CARE for their next
newsletter?
he he

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

It was the "I expect to be offline for maintenance the beginning of
this week" that made me wonder, Tobe.

I think we'd better not tell CARE, though they may pick up on it
anyway, given that there is a Dartmouth Review article on the evils
of Kwanzaa circulating in the conservative community. I don't want to
be left with the dreaded "Jingle Bell Rock" as the only thing
suitable for the winter concert.

-- Anonymous, January 07, 2002

Thank you Tobe and Jim. I got the form from Tobe. I'll put in the
FOIL and gladly read the extra copy in mean time. I hope to gather a
few parents together, so, can it be interofficed to me in school? Or
let me know where to meet you. Thanks again:) I like the cyborg
thingy ;) very cute.

-- Anonymous, January 07, 2002

What is the new BOE meeting date? Still at Woodstock?

-- Anonymous, January 07, 2002

The next BOE m,eeting is Monday night the 14th at Woodstock..says
6:30, but I think that's for an exec session.
t.

-- Anonymous, January 07, 2002

hi all . bless the new year. aside from all the million other things
to talk about, my computer nerd son does not know how to make those
blue words turn into a connection to another site. Can somebody talk
to me about that ? and give me the right words to talk about it with?
Also tobe i'd like to offer you my time in research , transcription or
whatever.I thought I'd start with the tirades of JD and MM , offering
reasons to buy out Hal. Woodstock library collection is quite chaotic
and I could not find most recent meetings. Thought I'd look at
Phoenicia , but haven't got there yet.See you Mon.mm

-- Anonymous, January 08, 2002

You want to make "hot links."

The formula is like this:

[a href="http://www.dumpthedoan.org"]The Dump Doan website[/a]

should get you to blue words saying "The Dump Doan website" and
clicking on them will link you to that site.

I've done some substitutions in order not to have that be a live link
as I explain it. Where there is a [ you will put instead a < and
where there is a ] you will put instead a > . You can have spaces
in the phrase you want hotlinked, but it must be nestled up against
the angle brackets on either side without spaces.

I made up a hand-out for how to do it which we had available at a few
meetings, remind me on the 14th and I'll try and bring one to the BOE
meeting for you.

Once you have it figured out, copy the formula on a post-it and stick
it on your computer. It's the only piece of HTML I know by heart.

-- Anonymous, January 08, 2002

Thanks a million Carol, I'm working on it.

-- Anonymous, January 09, 2002

I have been thinking about getting together a last minute hand out for
the BOE meeting on Monday in response to Doan asking for more
investigative money for Shaw. Let's hand out a flyer which lists
Doan's requests, with the answer to each question of "who's
responsible?" being ...The Onteora School Board! I will make something
up and submit it to the site for input.

-- Anonymous, January 09, 2002

Sounds like a great idea Jim. Any chance we could get dates that
discussion and voting occured on? I can help with that tomorrow and
Mon. Is Tobe back on Board ?

The best way to find dates for anything is to go over the minutes...we
have complete minutes fropm August of 2000 on..The rest are at the
school office...I believe anyone can call and ask to come in, see
them, make notes, etc etc...someday, maybe they'all be online...might
ask wendy if an archive of old minutes is in the works.
I will post two or three Doan deeds in ther next few days when i get
caught up.
cheers to all.
Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 09, 2002

Now that I think of it, I wonder if there is any reason that all the
minutes aren't _still_ online, just not indexed? Can't get into the
BOE page right now to test this, but will try later to see if she
just over-writes the page with the new page, or whether there is some
date formula pattern in the URL that we can try. No reason why they
can't have them all up there, other than needing an index.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

The OCS BOE page is down for some reason. I e-mailed Wendy last night
to notify her of the problem.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

Wendy has acknowldged the website problem and is on it. I also asked
about the possiblitity of minute archives. We'll see what she says...

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

hi just to let you all know that Olive Town Hall tonight at 730 chuck
Snyder will be addressing "mismanagement of school finances" at CARE
meeting. I'm going I'll fill you in.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

Here's an attempt to send my response to Doan's charges of "who is
responsible?" to be distributed at the Monday 1/14 meeting. I hope the
formatting works out OK.

In order to assist the Onteora School Board with the financial
difficulties that clearly lie ahead due to the freeze in NY State
school funding for the 2002 school year, the national recession and
the practical need to hold down expenses, SOS, (Support Onteora
Schools) would like to answer, at no cost to the district, at least
half of all the questions Mr. Doan is requesting the Shaw law firm
answer at the rate of $150/hour. The following is Mr. Doan?s request
with our answer underlined and in italics where we feel it helps and
will save the taxpayers hard-earned money.

Retention of Shaw and Perelson, LLP, per Trustee Doan?s request as
follows:BE IT RESOLVED, that Shaw and Perelson, LLP, are hereby
authorized for the fee of $150/hr to investigate the following matters
and report to the Board in writing by February 10, 2002.

1.
Were the payments of District funds to Brian Lane, upon his retirement
legally made? If not, what person or persons were responsible?

The Onteora Board of Education led by board president Sandi Casesse.

2.
Was the payment of $44,000 in June 2001 to Robert Erratt made
lawfully? If not, what person or persons were responsible?

The Onteora Board of Education led by board president Marty Milman

3.
Was the lease renewal in June 2001 for the relocatable classrooms
owned by Robert Erratt legal? If not, what person or persons were
responsible?

The Onteora Board of Education led by board president Marty Milman

4.
Was the unencumbered fund balance of the 1999-2000 budget returned to
the Onteora taxpayers in accordance with law? If not, what person or
persons were responsible?

The Onteora Board of Education led by board president Marty Milman

5.
Was the architectural firm of Einhorn, Yaffee and Prescott lawfully
paid fees of $24,000 during the 2000-2001 school year for preparing a
report (Rescue) to be submitted to the State Education Department,
regarding the facilities of the school district? If not, what person
or persons were responsible?

The Onteora Board of Education led by board president by Marty Milman

6.
Were approximately 11,000 flyers to inform the voters of the District,
regarding the Bennett bond vote held on June 20, 2001, discarded
without the Board?s knowledge and authorization? If so, what person
or persons were responsible?

Superintendent Hal Rowe primarily due to the untimely arrival of the
literature at the last minute which would have required the district
to pay overtime, on the weekend, for district workers to mail the
flyers out by election day. Yet another money saving decision made by
our superintendent after all school district legal obligations to
notify voters were met..

SOS ? Support Onteora Schools is an advocacy group for the Onteora
community made up of parents and taxpayers who simply wish for the
board to ?focus on education?.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

Nicely done, I like the call and response rhythm. I assume the
question marks in the last paragraph are formatting glitches here.

Two Ls in Millman, though.

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2002

Good going, Jim... and I think if each response could state when the
board resolutions were passed (day, month, year)that would strengthen
them...Any other specifics that can be sited? Let's be sure the flyers
issue is accurately portrayed.....also, I would lead with the fact
that all the legal requirements were made plus the district sent out
one additional informational flyer...(Is this correct?)

I love the rapid response approach on all these issues, and let's
start getting more visible as the elction apporaches, so we can gather
support...people are asking how to help, let's make a plan to
put them to work..letter writing campaign??? Themes???...Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2002

Jim:
Meg suggestes talking with Tom about the EYP fees and if they actually
needed to come before the board, and if in fact they did...Meg can't
recall..or ask hal directly.

Also, re: the flyers..ask hal directly or say something more general,
such as
"The District met all the legal obligations to inform voters about the
bond vote. In addition two informational flyers were prepared by
Syntax for mailing to district residents. The second of these flyers
arrived at Onteora too late to be used.

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2002

So what happened at the CARE meeting???

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2002

A short note from ed sanders applies to all here (the keep up the
gfood work part!) and is a fun idea...

Speaking of the BOE...
Yes, The Best Show in Town!

It needs a off-Broadway style playbill,
with pictures of the "Stars" and biographies
(such as the history of Doan) of each main character

Ads could be sold, as in playbills.
Maybe the privatized school bus companies would run ads.

Keep up the good work.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2002

Personally, after reading the article in the Woodstk X , I feel more
must be said in response to Doan's accusations.VSnow went in some
depth at these issues and I think Jim's response trivializes these
matters. Sorry. Hal,SOS {and it's sympathizers} have never responded
in any fashion to Joe's call for Hal's removal and i do not think this
helps our case.Blaming it all on the BOE with no explanation of the
underlying issues , appears to me that we are knee jerk
defensive.Seems to me better to explain the Board's role in these
issues and their role as a voting body( not as individual dissenters )
would do more to support our cause. The ? is , who is this "flyer "
for?Is it meant to be educational?, confrontational?,...for "us" or
for "them"?A statement at public be heard would be more clarifying to
me than a handout which provides very little info beyond the response
to the ? of Syntax's mailings.If you go to all the trouble of writing,
printing and handing out written material I think it must have more
meat or following flyers will be ignored.I'm afraid this sounds more
harsh than I mean for it to be and I am under no illusions that what I
think about it matters a tinkers damn. As far as the CARE meeting
goes.. First of all it was very sparsely attended , the usual players
Ostrander, FPerry, McCallum,Tom and BClare,Bev Stein and husband,G
Walters,maybe 20 in all. I do not think I exaggerate to say a group
that used every opportunity to dis Hal et al. First off a presentation
by an individual whose name I unfortunately cannot recall ,{ starts
with r LIVES ON wITTENBERG RD.}WANTS TO USE SCHOOL TO TEACH 5 HOUR PRE
liscensing course and defensive driving. Claims he has asked VBruck
and the Board with no luck. Various obnoxious comments about Board
including some notion that the Heather Stephens fund is "locked up"by
the Board.Clearly a Doan sympathizer, calls himself a private
investigator{ex cop Long Island}and I must wonder is he
Doan's?Ostrander jumps on idea that board has held up use of HSFund
and Chuck clarifies with explanation that no one has ever set format
or rules for use of this money.until then it waits.Must clarify that
Doan's original intent was to get taxpayer's to fund entire Driver Ed
program, but total failure , that.Clearly Rose is willing to say
whatever to make Hal and minority members of board look bad, blatant
lies or no. Chuck's budget information was fairly sraitforward tho he
spent much time dodging attempted attacks on Hal.Nothing too
remarkable , just alot of hostility. More ? about the cafeteria
debacle than I would have expected and I think we should be prepared
to deal with that one too. Chuck did say that 50% of all districts
operate at a loss. Ours is a big 279,000$$ and attempts have been made
this year to improve. Would be interesting to know if any one on the
inside notices smaller portions , less offerings, whatever. When does
ketchup become a vegetable? It becomes clearer and clearer that
Dennis Geisler had some very real shortcomings. We must be able to
admit fuckups where they have occurred and move on. Once again I
remind you of Carol's letter to WoodstkX which i believe speaks
exactly to where SOS needs to stand in relation to these historical
problems.Otherwise we look like we are merely attempting to protect
our friends and compatriots.Lord, one more thing . All must read last
Thursday edition of Ulster County Townsman 's attack on Rande Collins
and PElementary school.So much about this infuriates me I hardly know
where to begin.Dirty data. I'd really like to hear Melissa speak to
this if she's out there.I will check into Phoenicia school's test
scores of last four years and see where they stood.I do not recall any
huge gaps between elem. schools but I cannot swear to it. If indeed
40% of 7th graders are failing various subjects and there was warning
of this in NYS test scores, someone was NOT doing their job.Ai Yi
Yi.Meg was at this Care meeting also and may have further comments to
offer. Incidentally a number of comments implying that Dennis G. made
off with district $. Any specific ? about all this I will be happy to
try and answer.I've been getting alot of ? in the community about all
this. People are confused and concerned and do not know who to
believe.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2002

Well folks, it looks official. Joe Doan has purchased the West Shokan
store and post office. According to word of mouth...

It must be true, the store is selling everything for 50% off.

Rumor is that he plans on making an upscale Starbucks-like coffee
place. I can just see the Olive Highway Dept. and local workers
lining up everyday for decaf cappucino and espresso.

Anyway, see everyone on Monday night....

dy

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2002

I had the same reservations about the SOS handout at the meeting even
before reading Maureen's post. We simply don't have the correct facts
on all the issues to respond so cavalerely(sp?). We shouldn't be lead
into a cheap response which doesn't educate the audience. Much better
to get a response from Doan in regards to our agenda than responding
to Doan's.

One issue that caught my eye in the WT artyicle was Doan's offer to
engineer the district instead of EYP. At issue here is that Doan is
not a licensed engineer. The women's softball field which he
spearheaded has NO plans or specs on file with the school. It is just
a bad way to proceed and bad business to take someone's offer to workl
for free. Where are the plans Joe?? What if it floods in 2 years and
we need to refer to the specs to fix the problem?

As a side note, I once recall working on a commercial which comedian
Bill Murray did for free for the NBA because he was such a big fan. He
didn't want to set a precedent to work on a paid commercial (ie:he
can't be bought). But it created huge problems because he constantly
was late ot didn't even show up one day while a crew hung out getting
paid. No one could hold him responsible because he wasn't getting paid.
No one could tell him what to do because he would leave if not treated
the way he wanted to be treated. You couldn't fire him...it was a
disaster from a productivity point of view. Doan would only have
gained more power to work for free.

I feel our energy is better used toward constructive letters to the
editors encouraging people to attend the meetings and witness the
board in action. Let the board members make the points at meetings and
we support them in letters and PBH.

Thanks Maureen for your candid response.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2002

Let me correct myself...Doan is a licensed engineer but NOT a
registered engineer. Sorry for the misinfo.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2002

hey Jim . I pray you understand my point of view and take no offense.
It is quite all right if we don't agree, we've been thru that with no
destruction.Both Carol and Tobe seemed to think you were headed in the
right direction, perhaps they could add their 2cents.I'm totally with
you on the question of Doan's donation of his "professional" services.
In fact if you all recall' JDonaghue made it quite clear that it was
completely inappropriate for a Board member to do so, that it opened
the district to unnecessary litigation in the event of a problem.This
was when Joe offered to do the traffic flow report on the high school
campus. Would be interesting to hear if Shaw would reiterate that
opinion.Doan needs to be reminded that he was elected to be a member
of the school board,not a lawyer,not a newspaper reporter,not an
engineer.Looks like a long meeting Mon.Spoke to a Ptown parent at
length about the article in the Townsman. I do believe there will be
some upset faculty over this issue and the twisting of truth. We shall
see.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2002

I didn't get to see the Townsman article...Anyone feel like being more
specific as to it's contents? I wonder how much this has to do with
the changing of the guard in Shandaken and the Townsman losing status
as the town paper?

PS-Maureen, FYI the use of the question mark in the proposed handout
was a typo introduced by the bbs server in not recognizing quotes.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2002

Glad Jim cleared up that although Doan is licensed, he is not
registered in NY State, and therefore CANNOT legally do professional
engineering. Please keep this information quiet, since we do NOT want
him to know that we know.

Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2002

Jim, et al...keep your eye out for any building reconstruction plans
and if he needs any engineering that he might do to change the store
or PO.
he he he
Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2002

I'm willing to reconsider anything I say if a better response comes
along, and I think the later comments about the proposed flyer do
show more wisdom and tactical discernment than mine.

I sure would like to see these allegations of Doan's answered fully
and properly. Maybe letters to the Woodstock Times every week, each
one concentrating on documenting fully the allegations, would be a
far better tactic. And let's make sure those of us on the SOS board
get the information too -- this is the first explanation I'd finally
heard about the missing flyers.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2002

As usual, carol has it right..each point needs to be addressed
completely...this is the rub, howevere...each point is not simpe (as
doan would like us all to believe) there are points of interpretation
by lawyers involved, not just opinions of us (the rabble, as it were.)

Once we get some more info, perhaps we can get a letter a week in the
press, plus start to hand out info-sheets at Hurely Ridge that was so
effective last election...
Perhaps an SOS member could adopt each point and make it their
priority to find out all there is to know about it????Then a coherent
response could be written...
Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

I think Tobe's idea is terrific.If those of us who have time and
inclination pick one aspect of these accusations it may simplify the
process of revealing the truth as we see it.For myself at the moment i
will be working on the P school issue, because it is so fresh and
because we need all the P voters we can get in the spring.I'll be
calling Frank gORLESKI IN THE am TO SEE IF i can get test scores. A
preliminary looksee at my collection shows no great disparities.I
will quote a few things from the Townsman article.."over 40% of
P seventh graders in the middle school are failing classes and reading
below grade level...in the 2000-2001 school year 41.6% of P. students
failed at least one course, compared to 19.4% at Bennet,17.3% from
W.H. and 17.7% from Wood.Statistics from previous year are worse. { so
Jim I was wrong about the info I gave you re: this data,sorry.}Various
quotable quotes from Millman and Doan abot what a bad and horrible
administrator Rande is and how {Doan} "doesn't want him coming back in
July and saying I'm ba-ack".Doan is quick to point out that he is
not singling out the teachers at the school for the students problems,
instead directly blaming Collins.Of course his affair with BL is
mentioned.Just FYI, let me point out that the free lunch programs at
the elementary schools look like this..Phoenicia 96-97 33.9 % / 97-98
38.6% /98-99
38.9%..Bennett..18.1%..14.4%..14.1%..WH..18.2%..14.4%..14.3%
Woodstk..24.6%..21.8%..20.9% There are also more students with Spec.ED
classifications. None of this is taken into consideration in Doan's
#'s.Frankly no matter what the truth is,these kids do not deserve to
be publically dissed like this. Apparently Joe will stop at nothing to
make Collins look bad .

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

I think this is a put up job between Marty M and JD...Mary is carrying
his wife's old hatred for Family groupings...It might be worthwhile to
get families that loved and cherisehd their family grouping
expoerience and that are thriving in middle-high school...Wonder how
many parents of kids having problems wioll show up and say so in
public...I believe this is a perception problem, best licked by
showing the good and valuable things Randy did for Phoenicia, from the
mouths of parents and teachers...not us! Certainly the real story
from the "report" won't be black and white or simple the way Doan
smeared it, so we have to also say how he mis-used raw data to get the
results HE wanted.

I firmly believe that we need to use every opportunity to show Doan
for the lying duplicitous (sp?) person he is, and that he stoops at
nothing to get his political ends (get rid of hal, paint himslf as the
savior...etc.)We need to constantly erode his believability so
whatever he says, people will laugh and say, "There goes that
crazy-man again."
T.

Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

Here's some info from the report that Frank gave to the board of ed
about failures in middle school...Interesting that they (JD etc.) are
(of course) more interested in failures than successes...

Anyway, from the cover page...clearly ignored by Joe D. and Marty in
their presentation to the paper (Maureen, interested in calling Blake
Killin to see if he was given this info??)

Here it is:
"As a note of caution, in reading the raw data presented in the charts
on the following pages, please note that our elementary schools cannot
be compared as apples to apples. First total enrollment at the
schools is not equal, nor is class size at grade levels. Another
factor is socioeconomic status of the different buildings.

Socioeconomic status of a building (based on socioeconomic status of
students) has a direct effect on achievement. A regression line,
developed by Broome County BOCES was used to gauge our elementary
school performance. As you may recall, Bennett, West Hurely and
Woodstock had results on state assessments consistent with their
socioeconomic status. On the other hand, Phoenicia performed above
the predicted level.

A review of the data does indicate a significant difference in
failures at grade 7 over the past two years. The difference is
somewhat decreased when factoring in the number of students
classified, however there is no indication of a cause-effect
relationship. It would be valuable to examine the data further to
find a root cause, as well as examining other data for similar
patterns."

(Any misspelling are my fault.)

note the caveats about using the raw data...ignored as expected.
And the all-important socioeconomic data...Hope this is enlightening
and helpful...just the beginning of the story.
Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

Talk is starting about an SOS meeting this month...Jim will suggest
some times and places...Jane is your house/meeting room still a
possibility...
Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

"Interesting that they (JD etc.) are (of course) more interested in
failures than successes..."

As Michael Goodman pointed out to us last spring, the failures and
retentions do have a real fiscal impact on the district, aside from
the human costs.

How long has Randy been principal there? Do we have access to any
data from before his stewardship that would indicate similar trends
with the previous principal?

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

I'm getting bored of Phoenicia School being the target! Doan and
Millman, once again, are going after Collins. They don't give a rats
a-s about the kids. The faculty is infuriated and I'm hoping Linda
Sella will speak to their numbers and accusations. The socioeconomic
point is a HUGE one. If Phoenicia is guilty of anything it is that
generous supports (models, programs, cirriculum & support staff) have
been put in place. These supports are non exsistant at middle school
& high school. A lot of kids would have fallen through the cracks,
been classified and/or classified students placed in more restrictive
settings. I'm getting the feeling that the special ed audit report
may indicate these supports as above and beyond, so, save money and
cut. The majorities mind set is still in the 40's & 50's. If kids
aren't learning they're "lazy", if kids are disabled put them in a
separate place far away from "normal" kids, if kids learn
differently punish them and wear down their self esteem. Statistics
can be used to prove any point, depending on how it's presented. The
family grouping problem is Millman's. Here we go again, a little
history....just around the time Georgiana screamed anti-Semitism, she
went to a PTA meeting complaining that her son was being distracted
and his grades affected in a "family grouping" classroom with IEP
integrated students. The "kid" distracting her son had an IEP and on
medication. She found out at the meeting that the kid didn't have
and IEP. The classified kids were in classroom in the morning and
her sons problem happened in afternoon. she then announced knowing
all the kids on medication from the pharmacy. I was not at this
meeting, but had 2 phone calls from concerned parents. I immediately
called Marty and explained that Georgianna was breaking the
confideniality law and had no right to make such a statement in
public or private, especially in such a threatening way, and he might
want to speak to her so he as a pharmacist would not be put in
jeopardy. He thanked me, she called me back immediately and did her
George talk ;( and I told her pointedly at end never to do that
again. It's a perfect example of the Millman's style. If they are
proven wrong, twist it, squeeze it till it becomes what they want it
to be. They never spoke to it again. So how better for them to get
back? Dis family grouping.
By the way: Family grouping is a model that combines grades. In
beginning there were grade combinations at primary and intermediate
levels. My son, Jesse, was in a 3-4-5 blend one year. It proved not
to serve all kids well (Jess was lucky in 4th so he gained from both
ends)so 3 grade blend not done again. The primary grade blends are
great. I'm in a 2-3 blend this year and the children are thriving.
Every year the blends are decided according to the kids needs.
Presently blends are only in the primary. One year we had a straight
first grade because thats what the faculty thought would be best. So
you see, Millman isn't up to date, is reacting to his personnal
experience that's skewed. Would you expect anything else?!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
See you tomorrow at board meeting.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

Melissa, this is such an eloquent statement about what's happening in
Phoenicia...Can this become a letter to the editor that can give the
true perspective on Phoenicia School?

Perhaps it takes a joint letter or statement from the Phoenicia
Community (or both or more.)
I'm sure you're alread way ahead of me on organizing within the
Phoenicia School Community, but Susan Buckler said she would be
interested in supporting the school...679-2800.
Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

Thanks Tobe :) Yes, I am active. Teachers are organizing. I'm
calling parents. Estelle Nadler is accumulating data information on
statistics. Can Maureen who has done a lot of research be accessed
by Estelle? Even if it's to compare information? I haven't spoken
to Estelle yet, so, if you feel comfortable Maureen, let me know and
I'll offer you to her. Hopefully it will be ready for tomorrows
board meeting. Hang in there.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

sure, Melissa .Have her call. The two years( I,ve looked at),of 4th
grade state testing show no significant variations. Indeed. P's math
performance is quite marvelous relative to other school's.Indeed if
someone wanted to worry about test scores , they could consider
Woostk. also MS 8th grade Math and English. MS is at least as much of
a factor as the parent elementary school. Why are these students
failing? Academics or other reasons( absenteeism,late work,MS social
shock?)With an enrollment of 295 students at pschool. it may come as
no surprise to imagine some students not doing well in this new
environment..

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

Pre Kindergarden screening scores are also being looked at so public
will see where kids are starting from and how far they have come at
graduation. Many kids don't have preschool experience (remember the
preK program was ousted) and same parents who voiced against family
grouping at Phoenicia School didn't want full day kindergarden. 50's
mentality again.
I just got information (that may be old news) that contractors at
Bennett threw down their tools and walked off the job site. They
stated they won't come back til board decides whether to lease or
rent. Sorry Bennett people :( We really are sister schools ya
know. Even in grief.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

Melissa
: First we've heard of the job action...any more info? Who told you?
any witnesses.

Tom are you here? Any word on this?
Anyone else...
?
Curry Janet Jim Nelso and I visited the softball field and bennett
site yesterday. The bennett site did look very quiet...???

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

Meg is placing an agenda item on tomorrow's meeting agenda to bring up
the article in the Ulster Townsman.

This will allow anyone to speak on this topic at the beginning Public
be Heard.
Spread the word.
tobe

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

I think you can assume that news doesn't always get around. So when
in doubt, post useful information. Even if it is old news, it may be
useful in a new context, or with a new perspective.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2002

Re: the Bennett Temp space. The "Contractors did not throw their
tools down and walk off". The issue here is; there is a problem with
the lease document format. It seems that the lease agreement is
attached to an AIA standard form, which is used for purchase rather
than lease. The Modular "Temp Classroom" builder assured us, at the
last facilities com. meeting, that production on the units has not
been held up because of this. The builder, Chuck and Shaw are working
to correct this. The reason that the AIA form was used was that it
contains a schedule of values. The value list allows us to delete
items for credit like chalkboards. We need not pay for new
chalkboards when we can use the existing boards from the spaces that
were vacated. Knowing the values assures us of getting an honest
credit. There are other ways to accomplish this or to use the AIA
format with out reference to purchase. By the way, Chalkboards are
expensive and taken together with other items that we already own and
don't need to replace will save the district significant dollars.
Tom Rosato

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

Just heard that the nurse will NOT be at the meeting tonight. Doan
has asked for her to be rescheduled for Feb 11th.

We still, however, need lots of support tonight at Woodstock, given
the topics on the agenda...attacks on everyone in sight, including
Phoenicia ...
Come on down!
Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

Morty mentioned something last night to me that I don't think has
come up publicly before, that Marty Millman sells condoms and thus
has a conflict of interest. How do we use this if the condom issue is
up for a vote? Do we wait until it is at the voting stage, to get him
to recuse himself?

Joe and Rose aren't getting many of their friends to come out for
them, I see.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Did anyone else think that Hal was in a zone last night? I hope he's up
to something..... I think he is......

Marino's discussion of the 6 dirty questions was masterful...

But the Joe & Rose Naysayers stole the show.....

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

I couldn't go last night due to "family comes first". Who/What
Naysayers, Curry? I did hear at Phoenicia Elem. that Maureen and
Gail Cavenaugh (sp?) spoke beautifully! People seemed to last til 9-
10 o'clock...anything significant in later time slot? Did Meg bring
up Phoenicia test scores? By the way, Marty not only sells condoms,
but years ago (and maybe still) when my Forest was 15 and wanted a
Playboy Mag I got it at Phoenicia Pharmacy. The only other place I
knew sold Playboy was Hiest Hardware in Woodstock and going west,
Margaretteville. Guess his shrewd business mind saw the opportunity:)
Before the big hullabaloo about halloween candy Marty would hand out
loose vitamins to the kids! Piece of work, hey?

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm here. I feel honored to be
included in your discussions, and I look foward to communicating with
all of you.

I'm sorry that I had to leave last night's meeting before the
Townsman article was discussed. A lot of the high school students
I've spoken with were clearly distressed by the message the article
sent. The obvious disregard for students' feelings by certain
trustees is upsetting.

Once again, thank you for the invitation. I'll be milling around,
trying to get the hang of things for a little while. Thanks.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Welcome Rachael. It's great having new folks join in.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

There was a run of votes on the hiring of subcontractors basically in
two catagories: special ed & the arts. A pattern emerged that Joe and
Rose would grumble and groan, make many stupid remarks, and then, in
reasonable unison, bleat Naaaayyyy after everyone else said their ayes.
It got quite comical, and Tobe's got it all on tape.

They called Barbara Boyce up to the table so many times that Marino
finally gave his seat to her! And then MM, of all people, got a spare
chair for Marino. For a brief moment, Barbara was back, and patient as
always deflecting their insulting behavior.

It was really quite a meeting. What was everyone's favorite vignette?

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Welcome to Rachel...it's fun and friendly here!

Last night was indeed full of stuff...something for everyone...
The sad part was the waste of time and money we are now entering into
with the new investigations.

The best parts were: Rachel's eloquent statement (read by Marino)
about Phoenicia, Tom's masterful approach to cost-benefit anlysis on
the investigations, Maureen's eloquent statement about Phoenicia,
Marino's great idea to get Shaw to write if he's got a conflict of
interest in representing the district in these investigation matters
and being asked to investigate the same matters...Another Doan goof
up...he doesn't think things through...maybe he only has Rose to ask
about these things before he goes ahead, and maybe she doesn't help
too much...It was fun watching Frank Gorleski put up scores showing
Phoenicia students doing so well on standardized tests, and the
silence with which these were greeted by Doan and Millman..
The joke of Marty Millman accusing BCL Solutions (!) of being behind
the "problems" at Phoenicia, and the praise for the ancien regime of
Principal Maronne (sp?) Any anecdotes about his tenure that we should
all hear?

For those who couldn't stay 'till the end, I got to say my public be
heard,on the W Hurley water testing debacle, in which I told how Doan
was wrong when he called me (of all people!) a liar in November, and
then I showed how he unilaterally had the water tested at W Hurley,
how he kept the records for himself, and then how he had the school
pay for these tests...I showed the invoice, etc...Had the taxpayers
pay for his private test. He flunked the truth test...bad Doan! No
biscuit!

Just before the meeting ended, Doan tried to defend his cost overruns
on the girl's softball field, by saying it would be a permanent
facility, so what did a little overspending mean anyway (try that
logic on the Bennett school project and see how long he stays silent.)

Meg responed by saying directly to him...it was your project that
started out as free labor and a few hundred bucks for a backstop, grew
and grew (from practically free to $10,000 and then to over
$23,000)...and she asked him directly if it was his project and if he
engineered the plans...He admited he had, she asked him again to be
sure and he repeated that he did the engineering...he he he...
now to see the plans themselves..Yahoo!!! We love it when Doan plays
engineer.

I also loved it when Meg read the letter from STD/HIV/AIDs expert
Phili Weiss, MD...It can be read again when (and if nursey shows up on
Feb 11.)

I will write my Public Be Heard as a letter to the editor...I urge
Maureen and Rachel to do the same, and be sure to include the Ulster
Townsman...and the Kingston Freeman as well as the Woodstock Times.

Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Beth Bliss will be formally joining the SOS bbs. She has been lurking
over Dennis' shoulder so let's formally welcome her here. Thanks for
joining the fray, Beth. We look forward to your comments.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Pam Free is lurking on our site as well. Welcome Pam!

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Melissa sorry to miss you last night. I know the conflicts. I believe
that the next boe meeting on Jan.28 will be the discussion of the
Spec.Ed. "investigator's report." Have you been able to get a look at
that? If we had a few speakers at public be heard I think it would be
very useful, especially if they were able to speak to issues mentioned
in the report. RosieO made every attempt to micromanage Barbara's
requests and mentioned criticisms in the report several times.
Especially suggesting that we were not using in house staff enough for
evaluations and "going Outside" to other expensive and maybe
unnecessarily qualified professionals. Clearly they will attempt to
use this as an axe to cut SE in the 2002-03 budget.I remember AKahn
spoke well to SE issues also. If it is not too strategic and
demanding.. it seems to me to have value to place letters to the
editor in the WoostkX the Monday of the meeting . That way we would
have call and response in the same edition. Any way I can help with
that I will.. including getting Meg's xtra copy of that report to you
if that would be useful.RE last night's meeting I left at 11:30 and
that was the beginning of the conversation about P school. Apparently
Frank G. did offer some supportive statistics but the crowd had
certainly dwindled. We'll see what Violet Snow caught for thurs WX.I
am curious whether or not Ms. Alpert has investigated other districts
and whether or not we can access that info with time to make some
calls. Any ideas anybody? Melissa, I don't mean to be too demanding,
but you are uniquely articulate on this subject and I think your
personal point of view makes a huge difference. on another topic, i'm
sure all of us noticed Kathy Hochmann and MGoodman at the meeting.I'm
uncomfortable that prospective candidates do not appear to feel a need
to comment on the current collection of crises.Many more faculty seem
to be hanging around til the bitter end which i am happy about. Many
comments about micromanaging.. even by G Wing.Thank God people are
beginning to recognize what it means.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

How's February 3 sound for the first SOS meeting of 2002??
Time and place are open to suggestions...Let's hear some feedback on
this date.

Rachel's comments were, indeed, eloquent and well worth the late night
wait. Great insights and well thought out position. Kudos to Rachel!!

Marino and Tom were great in addressing the 6 points of Doan.

It was fun laughing out loud at the antics the Doan team was trying to
pull. They may have won the 6 points but I don't believe they stole
the show. I believe they made absolute fools of themselves, once
again. And this will only help us in May.

They obviously had no intent of being persuaded by reason on the 6
points but only their own stubborn short sightedness held forth. And
the public will clearly see this on TV and they will be held
accountable for their actions by SOS.
The funniest line of the night was made after the lenghty discussion
of the Lori Mulford appointment took place just after the debate about
stick-built vs. modular. Doan and company had no idea what this
appointment was about, were confused about what was going on and what
this woman's job was to be. After the last pause in this long
discussion and clarification a fellow behind me said "But is she stick
built or modular?"

The Bennett discussion by Doan was embarrassing, to say the least. How
anyone can act the way he does and not have any sense of humiliation
is way beyond my understanding. Doan is really outdoing himself and
digging a deep, deep hole from which I hope he'll never climb out.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Actually Maureen, Kathy Hochman did speak in the late public be heard
(to be heard by very very few folks)although I admit I'd have to
review the video to recall what she said...sorry...even my sharp (!)
mind gets bleary at 11:45.... :-)

She also told me she had reviewed some tapes and logged them...and i
got a log of tapes fropm Curry also Thanks..anyone else want a
tape..remember a favorite meeting and want to check it out??...let me
know...
Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

No Jim...the funniest part was Marino's Yeat's quote about
"activiities under the sun".......Many students behind me, obviously
well versed in the poetry from their English classes, were extremely
amused.
Welcome to Rachel and Pam and any other sanity......it is exciting to
see our numbers growing at this critical time!

P.S. I was gone by then, but I was told that Tom was pretty funny
too, regarding our son's offer to play the piano.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Kathy Hochman made a great PBH at the end of last nights meeting
(1/14) regarding Special Ed. She did extremely well and she was
pissed! I was also impressed by her confrontation with Ms. Ostrander,
outside, after the meeting. Kathy told Rose how disappointed she was
with her positioning with Doan on Special Ed and that if she had gone
to the seminars offerred on Special Ed she wouldn't have such
ignorance. Ann Marie Johansonn was there and was even more critical to
Rose about her actions in following Doan's every move. Ann Marie told
her it was transparent! Rose was livid.

But the PBH by Kathy was brilliant and in response to this...

When Tom was trying to demonstrate the huge amount of money the
district was spending this year on lawsuits, Doan replied that most of
that money was spent on Special Ed cases which eventually saved the
district lots of money.

Kathy Hochman at PBH said something to the effect that it was
despicable (my word) that Doan would wave the "saving the district
money flag" by fighting Special Ed. That money to lawyers was more
worthy than money to help the children with the most need in the
district. How dare he be so proud of such an endeavor? (This is all my
paraphrasing...it was late)
Kathy did very well.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Personally, I enjoyed Marino's "Um. It's on the addendum. Number
three."

Expect a large student turnout on the 11th. Between condoms,
insulting "naaaay" votes by Rosie and Joe, and the Townsman article...

I'm glad my comments regarding the article were well-recieved. I'm
considering sending what I gave to Marino to the local papers, but
coincidentally I wrote a short essay on my outrage over the
aforementioned "naaaaay" votes. I may choose to send that instead.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

I thought Meg's presentation of Dr. Weiss's credentials, and then his
letter, were very powerful and effective, though obviously it wasn't
enough to deter Doan's agenda. I had to leave after the Six Points,
missed the rest. Thanks to all of you who were able to stay to the
biter end to bear witness.

Welcome to Rachel and the other newcomers. Rachel, would you be sure
to pass on to your classmates and friends who have been attending the
meetings our appreciation that they are there?

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Not a problem. They will definitly be happy to hear that their
presence is appreciated.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Hey, this bulletin board is getting to be fun!
Carol, maybe we need to start dividing it up weekly again and make it
east to navigate through all the messages.

Also, can you post the security, etc. reminder to all, in case you
haven't...just call me paranoid!
Tobe

Sunday, Feb 3 is ok by me for our meeting...1) let's confirm this date
and find a place...2) should we invite everyone who has expressed
interest? this might be a sizable crowd, and I'm for it

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

I, too thought it was a great meeting. A lot of positive rebuttals
were thrown into Rose and Doan's face and I think people were really
on top of things. I sure didn't expect my name to come up but found
it interesting that Rose voted to pay one piano accompaniest but not
me...

One thought... as much as they avow to be for the Onteora Indian it is
amazing how they strike down anything that has to do with the
arts...something that is so important to native people. In one
evening both Doan and Rose voted no on every proposition to bring in
either dance, poetry or music.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Although we felt good about the meeting and are sure of our righteous
positions, let's remember we're talking in a cave when we are the
meetings...without public knowledge through letters and articles, no
one knows what's going on...We are talking to ourselves at
meetings...We must start a serious letter campaign debunking Doan and
Rose and telling what they are doing without pulling any punches.

Come on folks: a fact-based letter a week by everyone will show people
what's up!
a reminder:
dealines: Woodstock times and townsman..Monday 4PM..Freeman vereyday
(short letters are best!) Maybe we can divide up topics.
I'm sending my letter about Doan's unauthorized water testing and how
he owes the district money...This will be on the next agenda as well.

Meg cannot come on the sunday the 3rd planned meeting day...any chance
for it to be on sat the 2nd?

If not, she'll just not be there..
Rumors continue to strengthen that susan goldman will consider running
again...for the board that is! That would be great!

Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

2ndsokbyme

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Very glad to be proven wrong about KHochmann's involvement at the Mon.
meeting. She ,too ,is a fantastically eloquent speaker about SE
issues.I wonder if she has any feedback on THE REPORT that might be
useful for us to know. Do we know that she has access to this BB?I am
completely supportive of KH's candidacy and can't imagine anything
better than SGoldman joining her. Can anyone tolerate the notion of
working on letters to the editors on this BB? It is often difficult to
coordinate info , edit and clarify. I know we've discussed and sort of
tried this before w/out too much success...but i think the idea has
merit.Perhaps one of those threads like Doan's deeds. Everyone see the
Freeman? I thought Shaw's remarks interesting....OK with me on the
2/2/02 mtg..............I'm working on a letter that will win me no
friends re: a travesty of justice in the Hurley Town Court.The timing
is a little brutal since I care so much about these School bOARD
ISSUES and would prefer to be seen as not simply hotheaded and
innappropriate.I know and care about this more than many and for the
moment am trapped by my own impatience and anger.An important teacher
of mine often said Thou doth protest too much , but as time goes by I
believe Thou doth protest not nearly enough.AS far as SOS and it's
role in the community I have an important ??. For the reasons above it
may be best if I minimize my relationship to SOS and wonder how you
all feel about that.I can stand it.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

A reminder about security -- our effectiveness depends upon this
board remaining a confidential and private one. We don't mention the
board in public if we can help it. We _never_ give out passwords in
public, only through e-mail, and all new members must get orientation
material from Jim, who is the gatekeeper (if you miss-type a phone
number or something, or say something that you decide later you want
to retract, you can contact me or Jim and we can go into the innards
and fix it).

I've started a new thread strictly for newspaper coverage. Do click
the links and read the information on the newspaper websites over the
course of the day, as sometimes there will be online letters in
response posted up through the late evening. The Freeman only keeps
items in their archives for a couple of weeks, which is why we need
to post the full text. I'll start going to new weekly threads on
Sunday, and get back into that rhythm as things heat up.

Maureen, remember it is not always the amount of protest, but its
quality and effectiveness that may determine its value. Sometimes
quiet and sneaky have their uses too. The old "not the dimensions,
but how you use it" phrase comes to mind.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

I've added today's Freeman article to the newspaper thread. We should
probably announce here when we've done this, as not everyone gets the
Freeman or checks it daily online.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Oh Maureen,

Get off it. Your participation has been nothing short of marvelous, at
times brilliant and wonderfully encouraging with deep conviction and
positive criticism.

We need your support for this campaign no matter what you do in Hurley.
(I have no idea what you're getting at there). We need you to tell us
when we do something stupid and you know you have the courage to say
it if it's the right thing to say. So please, don't try to tell us
what trouble you will cause for us. We can get ourselves in enough
trouble on our own.

If you have a public persona that you feel is too strong than we just
trim back your public presence. Besides, you have many supporters as
well. Look at the response to your recent PBH...it blew people away.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Thanks,Jim.I'm going to raise some hell about justice Athena Groelle
in the town of Hurley, including a complaint to the Commision on
Judicial Conduct. I'm a little nervous about it but she is such a
prejudiced dragon I can't stand leaving it unsaid. After I posted that
bit I was a little embarassed by my inclination to drama...oh
well.Love you all and the hope of undoing Doan is bright in my heart.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Care to elaborate now that you piqued our interest or... not here.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

My dear Maureen: I have heard nothing but wonderful comments about
your PBH spot! Personally, I was relieved not to be the only ranting
nut yelling at these crazy people. It's a trade off, but outspoken
people end up with a neon sign on their forehead. Mine is SPECIAL
ED, SPECIAL ED, SPECIAL ED. I also questioned myself and am getting
back on board. I'm also actively getting others to speak up or write
up. I get the feeling the cashews sitting up on the board see me
coming and automatically close their ears and minds. Who else is
going to speak up for the under dog. Doan? Millman? Rose? Stay
with us and lets sit together at next board meeting:)

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2002

A meeting on the 2nd or 3rd is in order and we should decide which
date is preferred. Right now it seems as if Feb. 2nd is the best date.
Any objections or that will be the date we have the meeting.

Next we need to find a place which is large enough to accomodate us.
Let's say, 25 - 30 people. I'm open to suggestions.

I will create an agenda which will include a new election of SOS
officials or we can stay the same. You guys tell me if that
necessary. The agenda will also include topics which I would like
people to volunteer to do research and get the info on. That way we
can focus on our topics and then puty our heads together when they are
presented.

We need to plan a schedule for the election and get into fundraising
ideas. All at this meeting. I will work on an agenda and welcome any
input from all involved. Thanks.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2002

FYI.. no Onteora school Board news in today's UCT..but this in
MARIAN"S MEMOS..In congratulating several Phoenicia students upon
graduation from UCC," Therefore I must conclude that they recieved an
excellent education both in the grammer and the high school! This
appears contrary to recent information which was well publicized and
seems to be unfair and unfounded to some extent.Let's hear from the
other side ...namely the dedicated teachers and administrators! "

Tobe , your letter looks great!

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2002

The 2nd is great...I realize I will be away on the 3rd, so i'm happy
with the change..Should we invite Marino, Kathy Hochmann, and
others?????

Also maybe we should invite Marion Umhey to be the phoenicia head of
the "Zero Votes for Doan" commitee ...just (sorta') joking!
Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2002

Great press today in the Woodstock Times and in the UCT with Marion's
mention of the Phoenicia controversy over Doan and Milman's recent
article in the UCT about the bad grades from Phoenica student's in the
middle school. I placed Maureen's quote into the 'newspaper coverage'
topic where this sort of thing should be placed for future reference.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2002

I just posted a potential Letter to the Editor in the appropriate
thread. Please check it out. :)

I thought I'd post Dr. Philip Weiss' letter that Meg read at the
meeting, just is case anyone wanted a copy or hadn't heard it at all.

I have been caring for patients with sexually transmitted diseases
(STD) for over eighteen years. I am the lead physician at the Ulster
County STD Clinic treating a mostly adolescent population, including
Onteora High School students. I treat dozens of Ulster County
residents weekly. I helped organize and served as the physician at
the Mid- Hudson Care Center in Kingston, the regional HIV clinic, for
four years. In addition to providing medical services to people with
HIV infection, I lectured to High School students, Medical students,
and medical residents on HIV, including prevention. I have been full-
time faculty, first at New York Medical College and later at Albany
Medical College's Department of Family Medicine for eighteen years,
teaching medical students and Family Practice Residents, including
lecturing on the subject of STDs. I was the medical director of the
Woodstock Family Health Center providing primary care, including
reproductive and infectious disease problems to the local population.

Condoms are the essential and irreplacable foundation for the
protection of sexually active adolescents. Although condoms are
imperfect in their protection from STDs, they can substantailly
decrease transmission of most STDs to males, and decrease
importantly, but to a lesser degree, STDs in females. The
effectiveness of condoms relate importantly to their proper and
consistent use. This requires advice and instruction for optimal
protection. Correct and consistent use of condoms should be
encouraged for the sexually active adolescent.

Barriers to condom availability should be removed. No evidence exists
to suggest that making condoms available increases the rate of
adolescent sexual activity. Although imperfect, condoms can decrease
the rates of STDs and HIV infection.

Philip Weiss, M.D.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

Rachel: Great work..I emailed you a few suggestions..
Good to have dr. weiss's letter available for all to see.

Hope others will follow your example and write letters to the three
papers...name names, name name, name names!

I heard today that Bill Kemble (freeman reporter) has asked for the
information i received in my FOIL about the water testing...hope
there's a story afoot.
Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

Pat Stroh, who has already been active and vocal against the board
majority, would like to join our bbs. I instructed her to email
Jim. All in favor? Say aye!

-- Anonymous, January 19, 2002

Aye and Aye again!
Tobe

-- Anonymous, January 19, 2002

thrilled to hear of Pat coming on . Hi. Forgot about the letter to Ed.
thread already here . Ya'll are awesome.ASpects of my response to the
Freeman's article on Mondays meeting (on line ) were satisfying to me
and I'm going to try to work them into a letter. By the way I'm pretty
suspicious that Bill Harderned (same freeman on line) is none other
than Woodstock's own Highway dept. super ...that is reported to have
no love for JD.Hey Tobe and Meg can I get a hold of the Spec. Ed.
report?